Weeknight Dinner Possible: Creative & Quick Meal Ideas Vol.1

As a single person, I was always impressed and amazed by people that work full time, and manage to get a home cooked meal on the table, night after night.  I often found myself asking “how do you do it?”  When I was single and only responsible for me, I found myself eating takeout more than I would like to admit.  Its funny to me that as an adult, the idea of takeout is not as exciting as it was when I was a kid.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m responsible for the bill, or that home cooking is just more desirable as I get older. Over the past few years, I have been on a mission to have home cooked meals on the table as frequently as possible.  To achieve this, I have used a variety of methods from meal kits to one day a week meal prep.  Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you my favorites, to help you make Weeknight Dinner Possible! This week, I will give you my top 3 tips to make Weeknight Dinner Possible!

1. Menu Planning

Max and I tend to talk on Saturday mornings, about what we would like to eat in the upcoming week.  We are both ok with leftovers, so at times we choose meals that can be eaten for 2 days.  We are also “bring your own lunch” people, so we factor that into our plans.  I need to write things down, so the menu for the week goes at the top of my grocery list.

Here’s an example of our menu from last week.

Breakfast

Egg, Spinach, & Bacon Omelet

Lunch

Chicken BLT Salad Jars

Snacks

Almonds

Cheese

Sausage

Dinner

Salmon & Kale 2 nights

Meatloaf & Mashed Cauliflower 2 nights

Shrimp Fried Cauliflower rice

2. Grocery List & Shopping

I cannot shop without a list!! I am literally lost without it! It is what I use as my guide around the store. At times, I may put additional items to the cart that are not on the list, but It helps to ensure that I don’t miss the essentials. I am an iPhone user, so I use the notes app to do all my lists. I love that I can add my husband to the list as a contributor, and that I can make it a check list, so we can mark as we pick things up.

My process for writing the list is one that I have been using, for at least 15 years.  I start off by writing the categories; Produce, Pantry, Meat, Dairy, and Freezer.  I then go through each item on my menu one by one and list the needed ingredients in the appropriate categories.  I find this method works best for me, to ensure that I don’t miss anything.  Here’s an example of how that’s done for the menu above.  Please note this list is written with the assumption that I have most seasoning in my pantry.

Produce

• Romaine lettuce 4 bags
• Cherry Tomatoes 2
• Red Onion 1 bag
• Blue cheese Dressing 1 (this is listed in produce because I like to get the refrigerated brand and its generally in the produce section)
• Kale 4 bags
• Garlic pealed 1 bag
• Shredded Carrots 1 bag
• Celery 1 bag
• White Onions 1 bag
• Multi-Colored Peppers 1 bag (contains 3 peppers)
• Ginger Paste 1
• Scallions 1 bag

Pantry

• Almonds 2bags
• Coconut Oil 1
• Sesame Oil 1
• Soy Sauce 1

Meat

• Bacon 2
• Boneless Chicken Thighs 2 pkg
• Italian Sausage 4 pkg
• Salmon 2 lbs
• Meatloaf Mix 1lb
• Ground Sausage 1lb

Dairy

• Eggs 2dz
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese 1bag
• Blue Cheese 8 oz
• Cheese Sticks 2 bags
• Heavy Cream 2
• Butter 2lbs

Freezer

• Spinach 1 bag
• Shrimp, peeled, tails off 2 bags
• Riced Cauliflower 2 bags
• Peas 1 bag

Now that you have this great list, it would be very easy to pop it into a grocery delivery app, and save yourself a trip to the grocery store.

3. Advanced Prep

The last tip for this week is advanced prep.  It can be so hard to find time to shop and cook, that it may seem like there is no way you can fit advanced prep into your routine.  I have found that taking a little time to do this, can make all the difference in your week.  For us, the main items I prep in advance are Lunches and snacks.  Our shopping day is usually Sunday, so when we get home, we will spend another hour or so getting ourselves set up for the week.  We grill off chicken and cook bacon for the salads.  We cook, slice, and portion sausage for snacks. We cut bacon and portion spinach for breakfast, and we portion out almonds for snacks.  Spending this time all on one day makes the rest of the week go smoother, we just grab and go!

I hope these tips help you to get started! Let me know in the comments how you make Week Night Dinner Possible!  Check back next week for some recipes that will have you getting dinner on the table in no time!